What Ought to Be the Role of Nto Annang Foundation in the New National and Global Political Configuration.

Michael Akpan Ebewo, Ed.D.

In order for any group of people to be able to shape or impact upon its destiny, the group must decide to be very active, and contribute to most events evolving around it. Whether these events by their very nature are political, social, economic or religious. By my singular analysis, the most politically conscious group of people in Nigeria is the Northern Moslems. They have been able to use their political sensitivity to their utmost advantage, and perhaps to the detriment of the rest of the Nigerian Nationalities.

So many teething events, some captivating, and some controversial, have erupted in Nigeria since the advent of our new democracy. In most cases, the destination of each event is often shaped by the reactions of the various political groups within and outside Nigeria. The most basic and fundamental way the people of Annang and perhaps, Akwa Ibom State in general, can create some impacts in the political paradigm of Nigeria is to have functional social and political groups to become the mouthpiece of its own nationality. Any nationality that is unlucky to have a functional group to advocate for them is at the point of being exterminated or extinct in the political scene of Nigeria. You know that this is very practical in our country today. Even, the people of Niger Delta who produce the bulk of the resources are still deprived, cheated and silent into oblivion by each succeeding administration in our country, sometimes, because of inconsistencies in the way they advocate for themselves.

My view is that Nto Annang Foundation should advance itself to being a more active social group known inside and outside the boundaries of Nigeria. This cannot be possible without us making ourselves to be heard through both electronic and print media.

The theme of this write-up is what we as a group (Nto Annang Foundation) should do to help elevate the status of Annang people in the new national and global economic and political configuration.

Affirmative Action Package for Akwa Ibom State

If you look at the distribution of cabinet positions in the government, and administrative positions in the civil service of Akwa Ibom State, you will realize that, it is evenly skewed against Annang people. What role should we play to make sure that in any future administration, Annang people get the share of cabinet positions in the government and the civil service proportionally distributed in relation to the percentage of Annang people in the overall population equation of Akwa Ibom state? From my unofficial estimate, it sounds like Annang people constitute 40% of the population of Akwa Ibom State. 40% of all cabinet positions in the Akwa Ibom State Government, and the Civil Service should be slated for Annang. One other logical estimation is that 40% of all the Local Governments in the state should be located in Annang land. Anything less that this estimate, signifies that Annang had been shortchanged in the way Local Governments were distributed in Akwa Ibom State. We should start the process of advocating for more Local Governments as many sections or nationalities have started advocating for the creation of states, and Local Governments in the states. You must understand that if we do not start this process right from here, the people at home with limited resources, and lack of cohesion may find it difficult to do this for us.

Affirmative action should be extended to cover all facets of state operations, including the locating or sitting of industries and government parastatals. We should be in a position to coerce the Government of Akwa Ibom State to start decongesting Uyo metropolis by embarking on the process of even distribution of government establishments, and industries in other parts of the state other than Uyo metropolis.

Nto Annang Foundation should be able to coerce the political establishment in Akwa Ibom State into accepting the concept of "Rotational Governorship" in our state. This position should be rotated between three distinct tribal groups, namely, Annang, Ibibio, and Eket, for fairness and the opportunity for each group to aspire to the highest position of our state without any artificial limitations or hindrance. This is real democracy in practice.

In view of the fact that many countries outside the confines of Nigeria will not know much about us unless we tell them that we are here and alive. Many states have started the process of embarking on regular trips in and out of Nigeria in order to advertise themselves and open their states to foreign investments. Even the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Dr. Attah has traveled out on a number of occasions to advertise our state. But this issue of attracting foreign investments to our state ought to be a joint effort of all those who have a stake in our state.

We Annang people outside the state are intrinsically endowed with the links to invest in Akwa Ibom, particularly, Annang land. What collective approach should Nto Annang Foundation employ to bring investments to Akwa Ibom, particularly, Annang communities?

In view of the fact that our leaders have the inherent reckless propensities to use public funds in projects which bring out little or no benefit to the common people. Nto Annang Foundation should deliberate and evolve a strategy to advise the Akwa Ibom Government on a more purposeful approach of using the money to benefit all the people of our state. Pollution from oil exploration does not have boundaries. It affects everyone. More money should also be allocated for the development of the communities that produce the bulk of the oil in the state. A part of this allocation should be used in a scholarship

program to sponsor students in tertiary institutions in our state. This scholarship should be evenly distributed to all local government areas with a little proportional increase to communities that produce the bulk of the oil in our state. A part of this money should be used to build and sell low-cost housing schemes to the people of our state? We Akwa Ibomites who reside outside our state, may through this medium, find it easy to acquire a residential property without undue sweat or stress. A part of this money should be used to embark on interest-bearing loan schemes to provide loans to small businesses with collateral.

It is important to note that many nationalities have started canvassing for the creation of more states out of the exiting 36 state structure of Nigeria. A clear example is the rift existing between Northern Kaduna Moslems and Southern Kaduna Christians. The people of Warri in the Delta region are also clamoring for the creation of another state with the capital at Warri. Another area for state creation is in Kwara state where there is no cohesion between the Moslems and the Christians. It is likely that the Federal Government may be forced into a corner to re-visit the state creation issue because of the political time bomb that relates to the political and religious relationships within Kaduna state. We may ask the Federal Government to start to balance the number of states in the North with the number of states in the South to remove another undue political advantage between the North and the South. This is a viable political issue that should be brought up. No one is going to do this if we don't.

Permit me to sound a note of warning through my recent observations that the political entity called "Nigeria" is like a little bird called "Nsasak" which as it is gradually smothering and shading its ashes, cynical observers think it is shading its fat. Nigeria is at the verge of imploding, and disintegrating. If we wake up one day, and there is no entity called Nigeria, we should therefore strive for a state of our own in order to preserve our ethnic and cultural identity. We must take a different approach this time to realize this objective. We won't give out our money to any body this time around for nothing. We want to resort to writing and publishing to make the country be aware of our goal.

My belief is that we should start advocating for the creation of Itai State. We should start by delineating and publishing the Political, and Geographical Structure of the proposed Itai State. We must show the political marginalization of Annang people in the current and even past administrations. We should try to show the reason why Itai State is necessary, and the propensities for its viability. We should show the importance of Itai State in the future of a federating structure of Nigeria.

Only in a communist system can the central government be expected to manage everything ranging from social, infrastructural and industrial developments to defense. That is the reason why most establishments and infrastructures have failed. No one wants to manage any government institutions to generate any dividends because the government is a "nobody."

But in a democracy, for it to be efficient, the seat of management of most enterprises must be decentralized in order to make the government closer to the grassroots. How can a police command located at Calabar, Cross River State be effective in running the security operations in all the adjourning states including Abia State?

The police is successful in its security operation because the seats of their commands are fragmented, decentralized, and coordinated to work together by way of effective exchange of information amongst its component parts. In the United States, there is coordination between the State Police, and the Local Government Police. I am not sure there is a federal police system here. The State Police coordinate all their activities within all the states through exchange of data. There is effective exchange of information between the State Police and the Local Government Police. There is, also, an effective exchange of information between Local Government Police and Local Agencies' Police such as the Universities and Colleges.

In Nigeria, we need more that the Federal Police. We need the state police, we need the Local Government police and we need the Local Agencies' Police such as the Universities and Colleges. Colleges and Universities should have the freedom in a democracy to develop its own curriculum to train its own Police based on their own philosophy of the skills they believe the police should have. These Agencies may end up training better

Police officers that are not corrupted by the existing Federal Police system. The people who could better defend the most interior part of Akwa Ibom State such as Ekpenyong Atai 1 against any armed robbery attacks, are not the Federal Police. It should be the State, and Local Government Police who should be coordinated to work together.

Based on our experiences of how democracy works, we should be able to contribute our quota to help in governing our country effectively. We can do this, better, as a group through the power of print and electronic media. We can write an open letter to the President, the Legislature, the Governor and the State Assemblymen. We can also e-mail them. We can help to prepare and send bills to the Legislature. Our research committee that may be constituted can, every so often, gather information from members of Nto Annang Foundation, collate and release through print and electronic media to the

Nigerian Populace. If we can do this frequently, then we can begin to establish notoriety or recognition inside and outside Nigeria.

The adoption of Sharia legal system by some Northern states in Nigeria is gradually tearing the country apart. Under the Sharia system, any person caught stealing can be amputated. Mallam Bello Jangedi of Zamfara State has been recently amputated (right hand) for cow stealing. Under this code, there is strict separation of men and women in public transportation. Wives and husbands may be forced to travel in separate cars, or buses, thus robbing them of personal or economic security emanating from family members traveling together. Under the Sharia legal system, women can be stoned to death for adultery, individuals can be flogged in public for drinking alcohol. Recently, a legislator was flogged 80 strokes for accusing the wife of committing adultery.

My individual view on this problem is to go back to the issue of Constitutional Amendment to throw out all clauses having to do with religion out of the constitution of Nigeria. There should be strict separation of religion and government in Nigeria. Otherwise, when the North has felt left out in the political equation of Nigeria, they will always revive religious issues to seek political relevance. Any religious war will be very brutal for all Nigerians. People shouldn't be allowed to use the coffers of the government to promote one religion.

Many parts of the country have expressed dismay on the imposition of the Sharia legal system on all Nigerians. Igbos have asked the NYSC Directorate not to send any Ibo graduates to any Sharia state for fear of being caught up in the squabble found in these Northern states practicing Sharia. Recently, Chief Emmanuel Ako, a Middle Belt Patriot does not want the Middle Belt graduates in this year 2000 NYSC program to be sent to Sharia-prone States of the North, he calls "Slaughter House."

Value Added Tax (VAT) are taxes imposed on the sale of brewery products, cigarettes, hotels, gaming and gambling facilities and oil. Three lawmakers in Edo State have passed a motion for a resolution to prohibit the remittance of VAT proceeds derived from Edo State to the Federal Government. Their prayer states:

Be it resolved as follows, that the Edo State Government, its parastatals, breweries and hotels in the state and all other institutions such as oil companies which remit VAT proceeds to the Federal Government be hereby prohibited from remitting such VAT proceeds to the Federal Government for as long as those Northern states continue to apply the Sharia legal system.

The Delta state House of Assembly has passed a motion to send her Youth Service Corps members to only South-South, South-East and South-West zones of the country and not to any Northern state for fear of being killed in the Sharia implosion. What is our position on the Sharia hurricane that is about to sweep Nigeria off its feet?

Attacks on innocent citizens by armed robbers have been on the increase since the beginning of our current democratic government. Armed robbery attacks have become more complicated since the only safe haven for travelers, being the night luxurious buses have become new areas of attacks by armed robbers. In cities and local communities, people rarely sleep with two eyes closed for fear of armed robbery attack. What advice should our organization offer to our state and Federal Governments to help check this menace to make life easier for the citizenry?

Various ethnic nationalities have excelled through pulling together economic and human resources to create some investments which open employment opportunities for themselves and their own relations. This can be seen in the case of the Jews, Asian and Spanish people. They pull resources together to create investments which in-turn provide job opportunities for their people. What methods can we employ to pull resources together to create investment opportunities which can create jobs for ourselves and our relations? How will the uneducated Nigerians come over to survive in this country without our self-created investments?

Finally, my suggestion is that for us to create an impact on the politics of the Nigerian Nation, we must set up a research committee with a chairman, secretary, treasurer and two or three other members who will be responsible for informing Nto Annang Foundation members on topical issues to research into, and collate information for publication through direct mailing, electronic and print media. Our constitution can be revised to accommodate this area if necessary.